CHILD OF WONDER

These recent photographs tell a story that no wordsmith, no poet, no songwriter can.

Zoe - now five-and-a-half months old - is curious, attentive, and so very responsive. She loves to watch and listen, then laugh. She is a child of wonder, awe-filled, and precious.

Her dimples, her sweet toothless gums, and her eyes (those eyes!!!) are responding to something that we -- mere onlookers -- cannot see. To read her expression and to study her face is to try to experience whatever it is that she is experiencing, if only for this fleeting moment.

A relatively famous German theologian (Karl Barth) said once that reading the Bible is like looking out a window and watching bystanders standing in the street talk excitedly about something that they see in the sky, something that we, being on the inside, cannot see. He said that reading scripture is like trying to read the expressions on their faces and to try to catch the words dropping off their lips so to become again a part of their story that is our story, no matter how new or how ancient.

Zoe - looking up with wonder and delight. The baby exegete - the child scribe.